What an editorial board does can be a tricky question.
It’s not necessarily complicated, but without clear goals and good communication, it can be. Editorial boards are filled with editorial board members, who are experts that you’ve invited to join your team.
But even experts can’t function efficiently without a clear understanding of what they need to do.
Your editorial board is part of your team, and proper team management is critical to your journal succeeding, both in the short and the long term. Importantly though, the board members are not your employees.
So, let’s start by talking about what an editorial board doesn’t do.
What does an editorial board not do?
This question is very important. And it’s important that your team understands this as well for a few reasons.
Unlike your staff, editorial boards (also called an “editorial advisory board”) are not your employees. Because you’ve spent time assembling the board, you have a good understanding of what they do. They’re very busy people who have graciously offered to support your journal. You may give them some kind of “thank you” for doing so (a holiday gift for example), but they are not on your payroll. And they don’t work for you.
Now, while you may have a clear understanding of this, your staff may not (in particular new employees or employees that have never worked for an academic publisher.)
Here are three examples of things that an editorial advisory board won’t usually do:
- Rush their work;
- Do editing;
- Do favours.
So, let’s discuss what these mean in detail.
Rush their work
Publishing has deadlines. This is why things like a proper process and good team management are critical to success. In fact, having a clear understanding of the process can help new employees understand what is and is not normal in the publishing pipeline.
Different academics may be busy at different times of the year. They may have long stretches of time where they can respond quickly, and other times where they cannot. Because they fulfill the important role of checking manuscripts prior to the peer-review process, they are extremely important.
Not only that, they might also be able to recommend peer review candidates.
If you come to an understanding with someone that they will do something in a week, asking them for updates after two days can be very frustrating.
This is why clear communication and a good working relationship matters.
Make sure that these professionals have the time that you’ve agreed to, and, if they go over that time, then reach out to them.
Do editing
In academic publishing and journal management, there are some situations where terms sound the same, but have very different meanings.
“Editor” is one such term.
Are you an English editor? An academic editor? Or an assistant editor? How about a managing editor?
Because “editorial” is in their title, this could lead to confusion. So it’s important to be clear to your team about what an editorial board member’s responsibilities. English editors, for example, do not play a role in the peer-review process.
Having said that, there might be an editorial board member who actually wants to (or insists on) being involved in the editing process.
Part of journal management involves coordinating all these different (and sometimes confusing) positions. As such, it’s crucial for people to understand what roles people have.
Do favours
This requires some explaining, because all members of your advisory board are “doing you a favour”.
What a favour means here, is that you shouldn’t ask a member of your editorial board to alter how they make decisions that affect their reputation and the quality of the journal. Staff should never ask an editorial board member to “approve a submission” because a quota needs to be achieved, for example.
There are definitely cases where a favour can be asked, but these should be clear. If one of the members of your advisory board has a 6-day turnaround, but it would be very beneficial to have the report done in 3 days, you could ask them if this is possible. Sometimes, a they will be in the position to oblige you, but sometimes they can’t.
Asking an editorial board member to do something like approve a manuscript that they normally wouldn’t is asking them to compromise their ethics and principles. This sort of request can be extremely damaging to your journal’s reputation.
What does an editorial board do?
Your advisory board is made up of experts in the field who are there to support your journal.
Their primary goal is to help your journal by ensuring the validity and novelty of articles. But an important part of journal management is also to know when and how to leverage an editorial board to help your journal to succeed.
The members of a board help journals with everything from peer-review to journal promotion.
Briefly though, here are a few things that editorial board members can help with:
- Journal promotion;
- Attracting new submissions;
- Providing subject-matter expertise;
- Reputation.
Journal promotion
One of the primary ways in which academics that are on your editorial board can help, is by promoting the journal. This can be done in a few different ways.
One way is to actively mention this to colleagues and at conferences. The act of endorsing the journal is sometimes more than enough to entire people to submit to the publication.
Another way is by allowing their name to be used on the journal website. Reputation can be shared, and having reputable scholars can help to draw other reputable scholars to the journal, promoting it in academic circles.
Attracting new submissions
Editorial board members can have a major impact on a journal. Their reputation alone can be a major pull for submissions, but there are other ways in which this can be done. For example, a section or collection of articles on a hot topic in the field might be a way in which a board member can help to pull publications to the journal.
Remember, that while it is in the journal’s best interests to have lots of submissions, advisory board members benefit more if the journals that they’re associated with grow and become famous.
Providing subject-matter expertise
This is more related to the operation of the journal. Because submissions to the journal should be checked prior to being sent for peer review, your editorial board members have a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw from.
They can help you to identify good subjects, bad ideas, and hot topics.
They also may have recommendations for ways that a subject can be refined or people that can assist in the peer-review process.
Peer review is a crucial stage in the publishing process, so having experts to help you can make all the difference.
Reputation
Gaining and sharing reputation is a two-way street. People who have a really good reputation are sometimes reticent to share it.
More specifically, they may not want to share it with an unknown factor. This is why making sure that you’re doing everything you can to develop a healthy and good reputation in academic circles is critical.
So if your editorial board members have a good reputation, that helps your journal as well. Remember, as we noted above, it’s important to make sure that you’re not abusing the trust that your editorial board members put in your journal.
What does an editorial board member do for you?
In short, many things.
They help you to make sure that your journal is the best it can be. They help you to find potential peer-review options. In lending you their reputation and names, they help you to dray publications.
Remember how much they do for you, so make sure that your team offers them the respect that they deserve.